I'm scrambling this week to even get this piece put
together. I'm literally one day in to be settled in San
Francisco with my girlfriend, and to say the least, I'm a
bit distracted. Nonetheless, I've dug out a bit of time at
this late hour to power through a fairly skimpy, though
exciting set of releases.
Big thanks to Johnny Boy Laird for taking time out of his
morning to put a slap-dash of panache on this as he
regularly does.
As always, thanks for reading.
Hitting Theaters This Weekend:
ADVENTURELAND
Director:
Greg Mottola
Cast:
Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds
Summary:
It's 1987 and James Brennan is recently graduated from
college and seeking gainful employment. The only place
that's offering? The local low budget amusement park,
Adventureland.
Thoughts:
Couldn't be more excited for this film. Mottola directed
Superbad, a favorite comedy of mine, and every single
trailer I've seen for this film so far seems to once again
indicate that the director is mixing gross-out comedy and
coming of age with skill and delicacy. A lot of people
glossed over the actual direction of Superbad in
favor of the Apatow/Rogen/Hill trifecta, but go back, take a
peeksie, that movie is beautifully paced and put together.
If this one isn't an absolute slam dunk, I'd be more
senility-wracked than usual.
FAST AND
FURIOUS
Director:
Justin Lin
Cast:
Vin Diesel, Paul Walker
Summary:
The FOURTH film in this engine pumping car porn series finds
Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) making a return to once again
team up with pretty boy ex-cop Brian O'Connor (Paul
Walker). Cars will crash, engines will be revved, nitro
will be expelled.
Thoughts:
Say what you will about Justin Lin or the entirety of the
Fast and Furious franchise, but if you like watching
cars blast through shit with a minimum of plot, narrative,
and acting ability, than you can't get much better. Sure,
this is ultimately going to be a half-assed rehashing of the
first film (the only truly decent film and that's a
startling overstatement) but hell, it's almost comforting to
see Vin Diesel back in the role that made him famous. I'm
not going to see this movie in the theatre, but I'm
certainly not rooting against it either. Fans of the
series, you're happy; non-fans you know what you're looking
at and if you still manage to find yourself in the theatre,
you've no one to blame but yourself.
LIMITED FLICK:
GIGANTIC
Director:
Matt Aselton
Cast:
Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel, John Goodman
Summary:
: A mattress man (Paul Dano) wants to adopt a baby from
China. Things go awry when he meets an attractive young
lady (Zooey Deschanel).
Thoughts:
I've heard almost nothing about this film, but I caught a
brief clip from it and both of these young actors seem to be
functioning at a high level. I'm sure this is going to be
cutesy and undercooked, but I can't help but be excited for
Zooey Deschanel in her first, count 'em FIRST, romantic
comedy of the summer. Now I can only hope that Ben Gibbard
falls off a steep cliff.
Final Thoughts:
Not a huge week, but Adventureland certainly has me
excited. Excuse my brevity, I'm tired.
Noah Sanders is the blog/news editor at Light In The
Attic and a contributor at Sound On The Sound and
the KEXP blog. He also has his own
Criterion-based film site, Criterion Quest.
If you'd like to contact Noah in regards to his
writings here at Side One: Track One then please do
so
here.
- Noah Sanders
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Unless
otherwise expressly stated, all text in this blog and any
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John Laird under a
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